Over the weekend my buddy Jeff Warford got the call. Captain Pat Butera from Forever Two Worlds Sportfishing said, “The bass are on the bunker… Get Up Here! Monday’s forecast is good. Lets fish!” Jeff had a two second chat with me and our mind was made up… Morning Monday Game Time.

The lack of traffic was nice on the early morning drive up to Rockaway Beach. We pushed off in the darkness and were the first boat on the scene. The bunker were podded up tight and fish were on them. The lit up sounder had us stoked for the day’s menu. I tried my best to fool one with a big wood lure. I raised a couple but couldn’t get any to fully commit. After an honest effort I joined the crew and started live lining, catching almost instantly. The boat caught its NY state striped bass bag limit in the first 15 minutes of fishing! Yes the fishing was and is that good! Everyone on board was into fish all morning. The bite slowed up around the slack tide but Captain Pat did his best to keep us in the prime spots where the bass were holding. We ended up with 13 keeper sized bass up to 26 pounds! Today’s totals bring Pat’s boat number up to 99 bass this season (just opened last Saturday). Tomorrow he’ll break the century mark! Congrat Pat on an awesome first week season opener!

Anyone looking to get into some quality striped bass fishing? Don’t mind the drive? Give Captain Pat a call (646-705-2659) and fish aboard the Forever Two Worlds out of Rockaway Beach, NY. Get in on the fun! You might be surprised with what you catch. We were! We stopped and tested out some fishy fluke grounds and found a couple who were hungry to eat bucktails. They are staged up and waiting for us. Fluke season is right around the corner.

Nino Roman was fishing nearby us this morning and we cheered on his son who hooked up and battled a nice bass right along side us. Nino posted the photo below with this caption, “My boy got his first striper today with Forever Two Worlds cheering him on from their boat! Thanks Guys.”

The Barnegat Inlet is becoming more consistent with the bottom of the outgoing the right time for action. The Inlet was good today from 12 to 2 with blues on the chew. Sunday the timing was 11-1ish. Some anglers are pulling small bass fishing jigs slow and low.

The local back bay fishing for blues is and has been good. Here are some recent reports to supplement our previously posted info…

The bay is full of teen blues. Anglers are catching in Barnegat and Manahawkin Bay. Light tackle fishing for these in shallow water is one of the Bay’s most sought after fisheries for anglers looking for a screaming drag. The stand out lures are top water plugs like the Stillwater Smack-It, Tsunami Talking Popper and the Tactical Angler Crossover Popper as well as swimming plugs like Bomber’s Long Shot and Daiwa’s SP Minnow. Those that prefer to troll are catching pulling ponytails as well as spoons and metals.

FishinMission Joseph Mitchell reported, “Awesome morning!” He also got them yesterday too.

Yesterday store staffer Blake and Jeff Warford got into a nice bluefish bonanza at sunset. They reported an awesome gator feed on bunker. Blake said, “Insanity! National geographic bunker blitz!”

Dew Knapp reported, “Great weekend on the water with Pops and company hunting the blues. After loosing a couple to finally proved himself with this 35” fish. It was great to show him all those years of him teaching me has paid off.